Over At the Frankenstein Place
by A Spot of Bother
Summary: AU. When Axel landed the role of Frank-N-Furter at their local theater, Roxas never expected to find the sight of his best friend in drag a turn on. AkuRoku oneshot in three parts. For the.israel.project.
1. Act I

(A/N): Oh. My. GOD. This fic is so much pure, unadulterated crack, but what better way to celebrate Halloween than by merging Kingdom Hearts and The Rocky Horror Picture Show? Yes, I'm one of _those_ people and I so totally went there and I had so very much fun doing it. Knowledge and/or enjoyment of TRHPS may not be essential to this fic, but it might help. Warnings for language, gender-bending, audience participation lines and general what-the-fuckery. For you, Lauren. I hope you like it. Happy Halloween, everyone!

Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing depicted in this fic - I simply mushed it all into one unholy alliance.

Act I: Any Virgins In This Theater?

Roxas flipped through the pages of the script idly, raising an eyebrow at the number of highlighted lines. There were a _lot_ of lines. "You sure you're gonna be able to memorize all this?" he asked, settling a little more deeply into the couch and crossing his legs.

Above him, Axel only rolled his eyes as he crossed his arms over his chest, somehow managing to tap his foot in the outrageously tall stilettos he'd run out and purchased as soon as he was sure he'd landed the part. "Thanks for that vote of confidence there, Rox – I'll be _fine_, thank you."

"I can't believe you agreed to do this," Roxas muttered, flipping back to the page Axel had marked.

Axel made an impatient sound in the back of his throat and waved a hand dismissively in the air. "Quit complaining and help me with my lines, Blondie." He only grinned at the glare Roxas pinned him with.

Muttering in annoyance, Roxas traced a finger down the page, searching for the right line. "Okay, here we go. 'I'm here, there's nothing to worry about.'" He looked up when Axel didn't respond, eyes narrowing at the glint in his best friend's eyes. "What?"

"You're not gonna do the scream?" Axel asked, voice practically dripping innocence.

Roxas's glare intensified. "_No_."

"Aw, c'mon Rox, it's part of the script."

"Don't make me beat you with the nearest blunt instrument, Axel."

Axel sighed and made a placating gesture with his hands. "Okay, okay, no scream. Give me the line again?"

Roxas glared at the redhead for another second before dropping his eyes back to the page. "'I'm here, there's nothing to worry about.'"

Axel gave a barely perceptible nod and threw his shoulders back, a small smirk gracing his lips. "'_How do you do, I see you've met my faithful handyman_,'" he sang. Roxas hid a snicker as Axel began to strut around the small room, stilettos clicking against the bare floor. The blond kept his eyes glued to the script as Axel continued to sing, knowing Axel would expect him to jump in when it called for it. "'_I'm not much of a man by the light of day_,'" the redhead belted out, hips swaying, "'_but by night I'm one_ –'"

"Sick motherfucker," Roxas deadpanned.

Axel froze and cast a disbelieving gaze over his shoulder. "I can't believe you just did that," he muttered, a slow grin creeping across his face.

Roxas shrugged and held up a finger. "One, it's true," he said, smirking at the redhead's expression. "Two, the audience is gonna heckle you a lot worse than this. Get used to it."

"No, not _that_," Axel scoffed. "I'm ready for that. I just can't believe sweet, innocent little Roxie –"

"Fuck you," Roxas interjected mildly, eyes already back on the script.

Axel's grin widened, but he only shook his head, pulling his hair out of his face with one hand. "Gimme the line again."

Axel strutted around Roxas's small living room dressed like a drag queen for the next hour, voice ringing against the cinderblock walls. Roxas hoped to Yevon that none of his neighbors decided to drop by for an unexpected visit.

"'_I could show you my favorite_ –'"

"Position," Roxas interjected loudly.

"'_**Obsession**_,'" Axel sang, striving to override him and making faces the entire time. Roxas grinned.

This was going to be a _lot_ of fun.

* * *

When his alarm went off the next morning, Roxas only groaned and buried his head underneath his pillow, fumbling for the snooze button with one hand. All he managed to do was knock the damn thing so that it skittered beyond his reach on the distressed nightstand. Roxas allowed himself another long, drawn-out groan before extracting his head from between the mattress and pillow. Swiping irritably at the gunk that had gathered in the corner of his eyes, he smacked the alarm off and swung his legs over the edge of the bed.

His hissed as his toes curled against the bare cement, the shock of the cold against his skin enough to pull him to his feet, dragging his fingers through his hair and muttering nonsensically under his breath. He shambled into the bathroom, listening to the rattle and clank of the pipes moaning as he cranked the hot water knob in the shower on full. The hot water was another shock to his system, albeit a more pleasant one than the freezing floor, and when he stepped out of the shower a few minutes later, grabbing blindly for the towel, his brain had mostly adjusted to the fact that he was awake and ambulatory.

Roxas toweled his hair vigorously before wrapping the towel around his waist and stepping back into his freezing bedroom. He half-ran to the two large piles of clothes lying against the closet, pawing frantically through them for a semi-clean shirt and pair of jeans. He dressed hurriedly, pulling on thick socks and an oversized hoodie as defense against the pervasive cold before settling his towel over the bathroom doorknob and heading for the kitchenette.

When he pulled the fridge open, he found he was down to one jar of mayonnaise, lunchmeat that had expired sometime last week, and two lonely beer cans. He'd forgotten to go shopping again. He thumped his forehead against the top of the fridge as he glared at his meager food supply, stomach growling its displeasure at him.

His cell phone began to warble its annoyingly cheerful ring tone from somewhere back in the bedroom, and Roxas abandoned the fridge to hunt down the pants he'd been wearing the night before. Snagging the phone from the pocket of the jeans lying across the bottom of his bed, he flipped it open and tried not to sound as irritated as he felt. "Yeah?"

"Hey, Blondie. You forgot to go shopping again, didn't you?"

Roxas hunched his shoulders and glared at the floor. "Yeah." Axel laughed on the other end of the line, and Roxas's eyebrows settled low over his eyes in the beginning of a frown. "Shut up," he muttered. "I was helping you with your stupid lines."

"Roxas, what _are_ we going to do with you?" Axel sighed, voice still rich with amusement. Not giving the blond a chance to answer, he said, "C'mon, I'll buy you breakfast. Way to the Dawn, ten minutes." He hung up without giving Roxas a chance to speak. Roxas gave the phone a dirty look before shoving it in his pocket; he grabbed his sneakers on his way to the front door.

It was warmer on the street than it had been in his apartment, and Roxas lifted his face into the late September sun as he traveled the three blocks between his building and the diner Axel'd settled on. The redhead was waiting for him, hands buried deeply in the pockets of his favorite black trench coat. Roxas said a silent thanks that the stilettos were nowhere to be seen. Green eyes flashed as Axel grinned when he spotted the blond, and he waved one arm vigorously. Roxas rolled his eyes but couldn't help grinning himself as he closed the distance between them. "Took you long enough," Axel commented as he turned toward the door. Roxas just shook his head and huffed as he followed the redhead into the diner.

"No heels today?" he asked with a small smirk as the door sighed closed behind his back.

Axel glanced down at him with a wicked grin. "Didn't know you liked 'em, Rox. I could always get you a pair," he purred, dissolving into laughter at the look Roxas shot him.

"No thanks," Roxas mumbled.

Axel let the discussion die as the waitress approached, menus tucked neatly underneath her arm. "Hello, how many?" she asked.

Before they could answer, a familiar voice sounded from the door.

"Roxas! Axel!"

Both men glanced over at the petite blonde who'd come in behind them, standing just inside the door and regarding them with a pleased smile. "Hey, Naminé," Axel said, gesturing her over. "What are you doing here?"

"Gee, Axel, what would she be doing in a _diner_?" Roxas rejoined as Naminé went up on tiptoe to hug him. She was one of the few people he knew that actually had to stretch to reach him.

Naminé's breath whispered against his ear as she laughed, squeezing his shoulders. "I was actually on the way to your apartment," she said as she drew back. "I saw you guys through the window."

"You eat yet?" Axel asked. When Naminé shook her head, he glanced over his shoulder at the waitress standing patiently waiting for them to finish. "I guess that makes it three."

The waitress only nodded and led them to a small table at the back of the diner. She set the menus around the table before stepping back. "Your server will be right with you," she said before turning and heading back to the front.

Roxas pulled Naminé's chair out for her, pointedly ignoring Axel's drawled, "_Such_ a gentleman, Rox."

Naminé only smiled. "I hear congratulations are in order," she said, clasping her hands and regarding the redhead with an expectant expression.

Axel grinned, puffing his chest out theatrically. "You heard about that, huh?" Naminé nodded.

"I can't believe you guys decided to do this," Roxas muttered, grinning.

"I'm just an understudy," Naminé pointed out serenely as their waiter arrived to take their orders.

Roxas just shook his head. If his two oldest friends wanted to prance across a stage in high heels and…not much else, well, that was their business. When the small Twilight Town Theater had announced open auditions for The Rocky Horror Show, he'd expected Axel to try out – he'd been involved with every production they'd put out since he'd been in high school, and he'd been obsessed with the movie for almost as long (though his actually landing the role of Frank-N-Furter had come as a surprise). But Naminé was another matter entirely. She'd always preferred to work behind the scenes; when she'd asked him to help her read for the part of Janet he'd only been able to gape, open-mouthed. "You're both insane," he informed them.

"Probably," Axel agreed, smirking. "But you're gonna come to the show, right?"

Roxas propped his chin in his hand, rolling his eyes. "Of course. When have I ever not come?"

"Cid wants to know if you'd be available to help with set construction," Naminé cut in, smoothing her napkin across her lap. "We're a little short-handed."

Roxas nodded, sitting back to allow the waiter to put their drinks on the table. "Sure, just lemme know when."

"Okay," Naminé said, smiling. She laid a hand over his arm and squeezed gently. "Thanks, Roxas."

Roxas hummed a response, and the table lapsed into silence. Axel drummed his fingers restlessly against the tabletop for a few moments before he retrieved a small pair of reading glasses from an inner pocket of his coat. Settling them on his nose, he pulled a rumpled sheaf of papers from another pocket, smoothing it out against the faux marble top.

Roxas snorted when he caught sight of the familiar highlighter color. "You're obsessed."

Axel didn't look up, but his lips curled in a smirk. "You're just jealous 'cause I look so good in drag," he said dryly. Behind him, their waiter choked a little and came perilously close to dropping the tray laden with their food. Axel's smirk only grew.

"Yeah, Axel, that's _totally_ it," Roxas muttered as Naminé tried to hide her laughter behind her hand. Somewhat recovered, the waiter managed to deal out their plates without further mishap, though Roxas caught the incredulous look he shot at them over his shoulder as he turned away again.

"Where are you today?" Axel asked as he returned both his script and his reading glasses to their respective pockets.

Roxas shrugged as he poured syrup over the pancakes he'd ordered. "Shifting boxes down at the warehouse in –" He glanced at his watch. "– an hour. Then putting up as many posters for the Struggle Cup as I can this afternoon."

"Mind if I drop by after rehearsal?" Axel asked, starting in on his own food. "I'll bring Chinese or something."

"Sure."

The clink of silverware filled the silence for the next few minutes as they each turned their attention to the food. Roxas glanced at his watch again as he shoved one last bite past his lips. "I've gotta run, guys," he mumbled around the food in his mouth. "I'm gonna be late."

"I'll talk to Cid tonight," Naminé said, pecking him on the cheek when he wrapped her in a quick hug. "I'll call you if he needs you tomorrow."

"Okay, thanks. See you later."

"Get someone to pay you today," Axel called after his retreating back, waving a fork emphatically in the air. "I'm not paying for dinner, too." Roxas tossed a distracted wave over his shoulder as he disappeared out the door.

* * *

Roxas trudged up the stairs to his apartment, fishing for his keys with numb fingers. He hated putting up posters in the cold – the tingle in his hands as the blood started flowing freely again was always just this side of painful. Naminé constantly chided him, telling him he was going to lose one or more of his fingers to frostbite, but he just never seemed to get around to buying a pair of gloves.

Finally extracting his key ring from the prison of his jeans pocket, Roxas allowed himself a triumphant smile as he slid his apartment key home and listened to the tumblers click. When he stepped into the apartment he was assaulted by the smell of Chinese food and the sight of Axel sprawled across his couch in stilettos, black briefs, stockings, and a garter belt, lips moving silently as he perused his lines.

Roxas froze in the door and stared at the redhead. Dressed in stockings. And _garters_. Draped all over Roxas's couch. "_Please_ tell me you didn't walk over looking like that," he finally got out as his vocal chords hooked back up with his brain.

Axel grunted and flipped to another page. "Nah, I changed when I got here."

Roxas was really, really regretting giving the redhead his spare key. Maybe he should just consider himself lucky Axel's upper body was still clothed in a dark sweater. "Y'know, some people might think this raises some pretty big questions about your masculinity."

Axel snorted. "Well then it's a good thing I'm so damn secure. Food's on the counter," he said, waving a hand vaguely in the direction of Roxas's tiny kitchen. "You owe me twenty bucks."

"Don't you think you're taking this a little far?" Roxas asked, tone exasperated as he closed the door behind him and tossed his keys on the coffee table as he moved past the redhead.

"_You_ come up with a better way to get used to walking around in this shit," Axel grumbled, dropping the script onto his lap and rubbing the heels of his hands against his eyelids.

"What'd you do, steal those from wardrobe?" Roxas asked, opening the paper bag on the counter and extracting the steaming boxes.

"No."

Roxas glanced over his shoulder at Axel's stiletto-clad foot hanging over the edge of his couch and decided he didn't really want to know. "What do you want?" he asked, lining the food up on the counter and grabbing the chopsticks from where they'd slid to the bottom of the bag.

Axel did a poor job of stifling a yawn. "Whatever."

Roxas entertained the notion of pulling down plates for exactly two seconds before he piled the containers in his arm and walked back into the living room, dumping the food onto the scarred coffee table. "Oh," Axel muttered, grabbing a container of what turned out to be beef lo mien, "Naminé said to tell you Cid isn't gonna need you to come in until Friday." Roxas grunted and flopped down into the armchair adjacent to the couch, grabbing the nearest carton of food and holding it between his hands, wincing a little at the warmth. "You need to buy a pair of gloves," Axel informed him around a mouthful of lo mien.

"Thank you, mom," Roxas mumbled. Axel only smirked, eyes fixed on the script as he ate. "Don't you know that thing by heart yet?" Roxas asked. Axel ignored him, and he settled back in the chair with a sigh. "How'd rehearsal go?"

Axel shrugged. "Mostly us sitting around listening to Cid figure out who's gonna need to do what on the stage crew."

"Thrilling," Roxas said dryly, lips quirking up in a grin at the look Axel shot him.

"No one asked you."

Roxas only shrugged and opened his food, spearing a piece of sweet and sour shrimp on the end of one chopstick. "Are you planning on dressing like…" He gestured at Axel's lack of attire with the shrimp before popping it into his mouth. "…_that_ until this thing is over?"

Axel's grin was razor-sharp. "Why? You like it?" Roxas didn't bother to dignify the question with a response, and Axel's grin only spread. "Wait 'til we get to the makeup," he snickered.

Roxas rolled his eyes. "So did you want help with your lines, or did you get all dressed up for kicks?" Axel's grin morphed into an all-out leer, but he set the carton of lo mien back on the coffee table and stood up, tossing the script at the blond.

"Last line, third paragraph."

"'You've gotta choose between me and Rocky, so named because of the rocks in his head,'" Roxas read flatly.

"'It's not easy having a good time,'" Axel began.

"Try Disneyland," Roxas muttered under his breath.

"'Even smiling makes my face ache.'"

"So bite your knuckle," Roxas cut in, louder this time. Axel did, flipping him the bird with his free hand and grinning.

Roxas helped the redhead practice his lines for the next twenty minutes, making minor corrections when needed and throwing out the audience participation lines he could remember from the times Axel had forced him to watch the movie with him. "You're evil," Axel grumbled as he cracked his spine.

"Revenge," Roxas said, grinning. "Shouldn't have made me watch the movie so many times."

Axel scoffed and grabbed his backpack from under the couch. "I'm gonna get changed and get out of here." Roxas nodded and surveyed the Chinese food still spread across the coffee table before sitting back with a sigh and propping his feet around the cartons.

When Axel emerged from the bathroom a few minutes later, he was dressed in faded jeans with nary a garter in sight. "I'm gonna go," he said, slinging his backpack over his shoulder. "Don't forget about Friday, okay? Cid could use the help."

Roxas nodded and dug a hand into his pocket, emerging with a rumpled twenty-dollar bill. "Thanks for dinner."

Axel snatched it deftly out of his fingers, grinning and making a motion somewhere between a wave and a salute. "No problem. See ya."

"Bye," Roxas muttered as Axel disappeared out the door. He stayed where he was for a minute before pushing himself up with a sigh and gathering the almost-empty containers together, frowning at the little bits of food that had spilled over onto the table. Sticking his used chopsticks in his mouth, he shuffled into the kitchenette and pried the fridge door open with his foot.

He blinked. Stared.

There was a loaf of bread and new container of lunchmeat, milk, cheese, butter, and eggs occupying the formerly empty shelves. And another six pack of beer. There was a sticky note affixed to the front of the beer; when Roxas had settled all the Chinese food on the bottom shelf of the fridge he pulled it off.

_No wonder you're so damn short, Rox._

Roxas stared at the note, a slow smile creeping across his face, before he crumpled it in his hand and glanced over at the door. With a chuckle, he dropped the note in the trash and headed into his room to change for bed.

* * *

When Roxas arrived at the small community theater on Friday, he was accosted before he even got to walk in the door. Two hands seized his wrists and dragged him through the entryway and into a crushing hug. "Hey Roxas, how've you _been_?"

"Fine, Demyx," Roxas managed thinly, nose mashed against the taller man's shoulder.

"Axel and Naminé said you'd be coming by today," the ebullient blond said, thrusting Roxas back out to arms' length and beaming down at him. Roxas just shook his head and smiled. Demyx was another long-time member of the theater; he'd taught a body movement class after school hours for the last two years. "Well c'mon, they're back this way somewhere," Demyx continued brightly, turning and dragging Roxas behind him.

They left the small ticket area behind and entered the auditorium, which was buzzing with activity. Cid was standing in the center of the stage, a clipboard he never glanced at clutched in one hand and his ever-present toothpick being shredded to pulp between his teeth. His eyes fixed on Roxas almost as soon as he entered the open space.

"You!" he snapped, jabbing a finger at the younger blond. "Xigbar's back in the stage left wing pulling flats. Go and help him."

Demyx draped a possessive arm over Roxas's shoulder, pouting up at the grizzled technician. "He just got here, Cid."

"He's here to work," Cid said, attention momentarily distracted as someone hurried up to him carrying a feather boa. "Why are you bringing that to me?" he demanded, running a hand over his short-cropped hair. "That's Marluxia's department!"

Demyx chuffed a laugh under his breath and tugged Roxas toward a side door. "C'mon," he muttered, pulling the shorter man through behind him.

"But Cid –"

"Cid'll live 'til we get back," Demyx insisted, smiling. Roxas gave up and allowed himself to be tugged down a narrow hallway, past the entrance to the stage and up an equally narrow set of stairs. The ceiling was so low Demyx had to duck in places – the theater had been built sometime around the turn of the nineteenth century, when the average height had been a good foot shorter; being here was one of the few times Roxas appreciated his lack of height.

Demyx ducked through the first door on the right, and Roxas followed him into a wide-open room packed with people and racks of costumes. Cast members were either standing and having their measurements taken or sitting in the plain metal chairs lining the wall, talking quietly to one another. Axel was standing in the far corner, rifling through a costume rack and speaking distractedly to someone with pink hair kneeling at his feet, fiddling with the ankle straps of the high heels the redhead was wearing; they were significantly wider than the stilettos Axel had been wandering around in for the past few days.

Axel noticed Roxas and Demyx standing in the doorway and waved, grinning. The pink-haired man followed the direction of Axel's glance, eyebrows settling low over his light eyes as his gaze fell on Demyx. "You were supposed to wait for your fitting," he said, voice stiff with disapproval.

Roxas blinked, fighting the smile struggling to break across his face and wondering when Marluxia had dyed his hair.

Demyx shrugged. "I had to go get Roxas," he said, grinning as he draped an arm over the smaller blond's shoulders again.

"You're in this, too?" Roxas asked, bemused.

Demyx nodded, blue eyes shining. "I'm Eddie."

Roxas blew his breath out in a sigh. "Of course you are," he muttered. He glanced around the room. "Where's Naminé?"

"Downstairs, probably being worked to death by Cid," Axel said, ignoring Marluxia's glare as he made his way over to them – well, strutted was probably the more apt term, Roxas thought, eyeing the way the redhead's hips swung with each step. "Which is where you're supposed to be," he added, flicking Roxas on the forehead.

Roxas frowned up at him as he rubbed the spot, Demyx's arm tightening around his shoulders. "I wanted him to come up and say hi," he said a tad defensively. "We haven't seen him around here for a while."

"Yeah, all of a week," Roxas muttered.

"You haven't met the cast!" Demyx insisted, free arm waving wildly. "We've got fresh blood!"

Axel sighed and glanced back over his shoulder at Marluxia. "Just make it fast, okay, Demyx? You know how Cid gets when he's stressed." He gave Roxas a distracted smile. "See you later, Blondie."

Before Roxas could reply the door burst open and Hayner stormed in, scowling. His dark eyes settled on Roxas, and he jabbed an accusing finger at the blond. "You!"

"Me," Roxas said dryly as his friend stomped up to him.

"Cid is not going to blame me for you not working," Hayner grumbled. He pointed back at the door. "Xigbar. Flats. Now."

Roxas rolled his eyes as he slipped out from underneath Demyx's arm. "Gee, it's great to see you, too."

"Shut up," Hayner muttered, punching Roxas's arm and grinning as he moved obediently past him and toward the door. "_No_, Demyx, you can have him later," he shot over his shoulder as he planted one hand between Roxas's shoulder blades and increased their stride. The door slammed shut on Demyx's petulant expression, and Hayner spun Roxas to face the stairs.

"I do know the way," Roxas pointed out blandly.

Hayner glanced at him before he shrugged and let his hand drop back to his side. "Sorry." He sighed and rubbed absently at one shoulder as he followed Roxas down the stairs. "You'd think they hadn't seen you in years," he groused under his breath.

Roxas just shrugged. "Demyx is…"

"Batshit insane?" Hayner offered.

"Demyx," Roxas finished, grinning.

Cid was standing exactly where he'd been when Roxas had first entered the auditorium, a fresh toothpick clenched between his teeth. He shot the both of them a brief glare as they tried to sneak down the aisle. "You," he started, pointing at Roxas.

Roxas held his hands up in a placating gesture. "I know, I know – Xigbar. Flats. I'm going."

Not appearing the least bit mollified, Cid jabbed a finger at Hayner. "You're supposed to be up on the catwalk. Last thing we need's Leon bringing the lights down on top of all our heads."

"On my way, Cid," Hayner said, rolling his eyes when the man turned away. He and Roxas traded glances laden with amusement, and Hayner held up a loosely clenched fist. "See you later, man," he said as Roxas tapped his own fist against Hayner's.

"See you," Roxas echoed as Hayner hopped up on the stage. When Cid's head started to swing back toward him he turned and headed hurriedly for the stairs leading to the wings.

He found Xigbar standing with his hands on his hips, his good eye glaring at the various plinths, doorways, and roman columns pushed together in no particular order in the corner. "I see you got real far," Roxas said as he came up behind him. Xigbar bent his spine back so that he was peering down over his shoulder at the shorter man before he grinned, scar rippling. No one was quite sure how he'd come by his injuries – the story seemed to change every year, depending on the man's mood and how much alcohol he had in his system.

"What, you want an old man to do all the work himself?" Xigbar asked.

"You're not old," Roxas scoffed, stepping up next to him. "You're…timeless."

Xigbar barked a laugh and shook his head, his gray-streaked ponytail swaying with the movement. "And you're fulla shit," he said good-naturedly, clapping the blond on the shoulder. He nodded at the stacks and shoved the younger man forward. "C'mon, this shit ain't gonna move itself."

He and Xigbar shifted flats for the next half hour, arguing over what they might be able to use for the show. By the time Naminé came looking for them Roxas had a fistful of splinters and a shallow graze across his cheek where an over-balanced streetlamp had fallen into him when they'd moved the column holding it up. "Hey guys," she said, laying a hand on Roxas's shoulder. "Break time. Cid's got pizza."

"Thank _Yevon_," Xigbar muttered, cracking his neck. Roxas winced and rubbed at his own neck as he and Naminé followed Xigbar out onto the stage, stepping around some of the crewmembers already eating. Pizza boxes were lined along the edge of the stage, tops thrown back and steam still curling up from the contents. Roxas hopped off the edge of the stage, turning and extending a hand for Naminé to grasp as she followed him.

"Hey guys, over here!"

Roxas glanced back at Demyx, who was grinning and waving at them from the third row. Axel was sitting to his left, munching contentedly on a slice of cheese pizza. Demyx raised a pizza box from where it was resting on his lap, displaying the slices still sitting in the bottom. "We've got you covered," he said.

Naminé smiled and grabbed Roxas's wrist, pulling him behind her as she moved to join them. Axel drew his legs up onto the seat to let them pass, and they each grabbed a slice of pizza and sank into the seats on the other side of the blond teacher.

"Okay, so," Demyx began as soon as they were settled comfortably. "Cast members." Roxas rolled his eyes but didn't attempt to interrupt; he knew from experience it would be faster to just let the man talk. "Obviously, there's me and Axel," he said, gesturing between himself and the redhead.

"Obviously," Roxas muttered, taking a bite of his pizza.

Ignoring Roxas's tone, Demyx straightened in his seat and peered at the stage. "Let's see… Oh, okay, there's Yuffie," he said, pointing at a slight woman with short dark hair talking animatedly to Leon, who was listening and eating his slice of pizza with a resigned expression on his face. "She's new. She's gonna be Columbia. Um…" He swiveled, surveying the seats around them. "You know Luxord, right?" Roxas nodded, following the line of Demyx's pointing finger to the man in question. "He's gonna be Rocky." Roxas raised an eyebrow, but remained silent. Apparently not seeing anyone else he was looking for, Demyx sat back in his seat, stretching his legs under the seat in front of him and ticking the rest of the cast off on his fingers. "I don't think you've met Vexen yet – he's Riff-Raff. Larxene's gonna be Magenta."

"Larxene?" Roxas cut in, pausing mid-chew. Demyx nodded. "Then who's gonna be doing the lights?"

Someone snorted behind them, and Roxas glanced over his shoulder in time to watch Hayner bend down over Demyx's shoulder and grab the last slice of pizza from the box in his lap. "His boyfriend," Hayner said dryly.

Demyx jumped and tried to grab the pizza back from the other man, but Hayner took a large bite out of it, smiling triumphantly. "I was saving that for Zexion!" Demyx cried indignantly.

Hayner shrugged as he took another bite. "He's a big boy – he's perfectly capable of getting his own food."

Demyx glared at him before turning away with a huff. "Um, Dr. Scott…Xaldin's Dr. Scott. Lexaeus is the criminologist." He stared at his fingers for a moment before he shot another accusing glare at Hayner. "You made me forget where I was."

"Brad and Janet," Roxas supplied.

"Olette's Janet," Hayner mumbled, coloring slightly.

Roxas tried not to let his mouth hang open _too_ much. "_Olette_?"

Hayner shrugged and took a savage bite out of his pizza, glaring as Roxas's lips began to twitch up into a smile. "Not. A. Word," he growled.

"Yeah, Rox, you try watching _your_ girlfriend saunter around a stage for two hours in a bra and slip and see if _you_ like it," Axel added, smirking at the murderous look Hayner fixed him with.

"Shut up," Hayner groaned, sinking down in the seat behind them. "She wanted to do it, it's fine." Axel began to open his mouth, but Roxas reached across Demyx to punch his arm and he subsided, still smirking.

"Who's Brad?" Roxas asked, exasperation creeping into his tone.

"Sora is," a new voice said. Roxas immediately began to choke on the bite he'd just taken, and Demyx pounded him absently on the back as he grinned over his shoulder.

"Hey, Zexy."

Zexion nodded and settled in the seat to Hayner's left side, brushing his hair out of his eyes. "Is there any pizza left?" he asked as Roxas continued to cough.

Demyx's features twisted into a brief frown. "No. _Someone_ stole the last piece," he said, glancing over at Hayner.

"I think he's dying, Dem," Axel said, reaching across him to slap ineffectually at Roxas's shoulder.

Demyx's expression grew concerned as he turned his attention back to Roxas, giving the younger blond's back one last forceful smack. "Hey, breathe." Roxas lurched forward in his seat, gasping for breath and wiping the tears out of his eyes. "You okay?"

Naminé carefully pulled him back upright, brushing his bangs off of his forehead. "Are you all right?" she asked.

Roxas took a shaky breath, hissing when it burned in his suddenly tender throat. "Thanks for the help, Demyx," he croaked, glaring.

Demyx held his hands up, eyes wide. "Hey, I'm sorry. I didn't think you were really…you know."

"I'll go get some water," Zexion murmured, slipping out of his seat. Roxas waved him back into it, coughing weakly.

"'M fine," he managed. "Just…_Sora_ is Brad?" Zexion nodded, perching on the edge of his seat as his dark eyes rested on Roxas's face. Roxas managed a thin laugh. "Shouldn't there be laws against something like that? He's…" He waved his hands in the air, searching for words. Sora had been the valedictorian of their high school class and a star blitzball player. He'd been Prom King, for crying out loud. "He's _Sora_," he finished at last, dropping his hands back into his lap with a huff.

Zexion shrugged and sat back in his seat, apparently satisfied that Roxas wasn't going to drop dead any time soon. "He auditioned, and he got the part," he said neutrally.

"It's not like the kid's a saint," Axel cut in with a snort. "He's living with Riku _and_ Kairi. You can't tell me there's not something funny going on there."

"Yes, Axel, I'm sure they're having three-ways every night and twice on Saturdays," Roxas muttered, wincing and rubbing at his throat.

Axel shrugged. "I stand by my assessment," he insisted, grinning.

"Okay people, break's over!" Cid barked, striding to the center of the stage amidst a chorus of groans. "Don't gimme those looks – everybody back to work!"

Their small group stood, grumbling, and shuffled toward the aisle. "See you guys later," Axel said as they split in different directions, the cast heading for the front of the theater and the stage crew flocking back to the stage.

Hayner clapped a hand against Roxas's shoulder before he could head for the stage. "See you tomorrow."

"You're not sticking around?" Roxas asked, voice still a little raspy.

Hayner shook his head. "We're heading up to see Olette's parents in Hollow Bastion. It's her dad's birthday, and her mom won't cut the cake or open the presents 'til we're there."

Roxas shrugged. "Okay." He tapped a fist against Hayner's. "See you later. Tell Olette congratulations, I guess."

A small line traced itself between Hayner's eyes. "For her dad's birthday?"

"For the part."

For a moment, Hayner looked like he couldn't decide whether he wanted to smile or frown; he settled for laughing and punching Roxas's shoulder. "Shut up," he muttered when Roxas grinned. Roxas watched him retreat up the aisle before turning to find Xigbar once again.

* * *

By the time Cid let them go for the night, the sunset Twilight Town was so famous for had long since bled out of the sky. Shivering in the cold air, Roxas hunched his shoulders and buried his nose in the upturned collar of his jacket.

"Don't you have a scarf?" Demyx demanded, frowning down at him.

"Roxas doesn't believe in things like keeping warm," Axel drawled from behind them, pulling his gloves over his fingers as he let the theater door fall shut behind him.

"Shut up, Axel," Roxas muttered, voice muted by the jacket.

Demyx heaved a dramatic sigh and rolled his eyes heavenward as he unwound the scarf from his own neck. "The _last_ thing we need is you getting sick," he complained, ignoring Roxas's muffled protests as he wrapped the wool tightly around the younger man's neck.

"Please. Give us a _little_ credit," Axel scoffed, throwing an arm around Naminé's shoulders and ignoring her surprised yelp. "We've kept him alive and healthy since high school, thank you very much." Roxas opened his mouth to argue, remembered the food he'd found in his fridge, and settled for glaring at them all. Demyx only grinned at his expression and grabbed Zexion's hand; as the two of them turned down the sidewalk the other three fell into step behind them.

"So how'd it go?" Axel asked, removing his arm from Naminé's shoulders.

She tilted her head to the side, considering, before she gave a small shrug. "It wasn't too bad. There aren't a lot of props, and I think we'll be able to reuse a lot of the flats – that made Cid happy."

"How 'bout you, Blondie?" Axel asked, reaching out and poking at Roxas's temple. "Cid want you to come back?"

Roxas nodded, inhaling the scent of damp wool. "For the next week or two – until Xigbar's finished playing with his power tools."

"You'll have to come back after that," Demyx called over his shoulder, gently swinging his and Zexion's clasped hands. "You've gotta see the costumes – Marly's already started working on them."

"Oh, I'm sure he can't wait," Axel said, smirking. Roxas just shook his head and burrowed a little further into his jacket's warmth.

* * *

Things fell into a familiar rhythm for Roxas over the next two weeks. His alarm would drag him, stumbling and cursing, from his nice, warm bed into the freezing morning air, and if he'd remembered to do his shopping he'd have a quick breakfast before leaving the apartment. If he forgot, he picked something up on the way to whatever odd job he'd managed to secure for the day. When said odd job was over and done with, he'd walk or take the tram to the theater, where he spent the rest of the night running around at Cid and Xigbar's beck and call.

When he wasn't being sent for this hammer or that drill bit, he watched the cast figure out their marks and begin tentative scene rehearsals. Vexen and Larxene developed an almost instantaneous dislike of one another and went out of their way to avoid each other when not on stage. Sora walked into rehearsal one day wearing the largest, dorkiest pair of glasses Roxas had ever seen – Axel and Demyx heckled him with whistles and catcalls, and Olette fell into his arms with a ridiculously falsetto "Oh Brad, _darling_!" Yuffie practiced her tap dance routine in the Time Warp sequence so many times in a row she made herself dizzy and wound up going over sideways into the wings; luckily, Leon and Xigbar both managed to grab an arm as she went down and keep her from hitting the floor. Luxord, who had once made so much of the fact that he'd been a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, spent the majority of his time on stage grunting monosyllabically. And Axel…well, Axel strutted around like he owned the stage. Roxas didn't know how he could do _any_ of it and keep a straight face.

"Well that's why we're part of the crew, not the cast," Hayner told him, grinning. They were both sitting in the back of the auditorium, feet propped on the backs of the seats in front of them.

Roxas shook his head, watching Axel swagger across the stage while belting out "Sweet Transvestite." "We're not insane?" he asked.

Olette's arms snaked around Hayner's neck as she placed her chin on his head, and Hayner shrugged. "I plead the fifth," he said.

"_Someone's_ whipped," Roxas observed, grinning at the look Hayner flashed him. Olette only smiled and tilted her head so she could look over at Roxas.

"Come on Roxas, didn't you like getting to dress up for Halloween when you were little?" she asked, green eyes gleaming.

"Roxas! Hayner! Who said you two could take a break?"

Hayner sighed as Xigbar came striding up the aisle, and Olette pressed a quick kiss against the crown of her boyfriend's head before she pulled away. "C'mon, we've got things to do," Xigbar said, waving them out of their seats and shepherding them down the aisle.

And so it went. There were arguments over whether they'd have enough room on the stage for both the actors and a horizontal tank for Rocky's creation scene; they finally agreed on a round, vertical tank large enough to fit two people comfortably. Instead of rigging a platform that could descend to the stage for Frank-N-Furter's first scene, it was decided Axel would simply ascend from below the stage. There were lights to test, choreography to develop and memorize, flats to paint and costumes to sew. There was always one more thing that needed attention.

Toward the end of the second week, Demyx snuck up on Roxas while he was bent over the frame for the revolving platform Xigbar wanted to build so they could swing the criminologist's "office" on and off stage during the show. Roxas was in the middle of nailing down the cross boards, extra nails poking out between his lips, concentrating so completely on the task in front of him that when Demyx said his name he almost brought the hammer down on his hand. Setting the hammer carefully out of the way and spitting the nails into his palm, he glared up at the older blond. "_What_?"

Completely undeterred by Roxas's glare, Demyx plucked at the sleeve of the younger man's shirt, grinning widely. "C'mon," he half-sang. "You've gotta see this."

"Demyx, I'm _working_," Roxas growled, wiping a hand over his face.

Demyx shook his head, reaching down to tug insistently on Roxas's arm. "You don't want to miss this – trust me."

Roxas blew his breath out in an aggravated sigh and glanced around the stage. Xigbar was nowhere to be seen and Cid was engaged in a conversation with Leon, gesturing in the direction of the catwalk and shaking his head. "_Fine_." He wouldn't have believed it possible, but Demyx's smile only widened as he hauled Roxas to his feet, keeping his hand wrapped around the shorter man's bicep as he dragged him across the stage. "This better be good," Roxas muttered as he plodded along behind him.

Demyx dragged him up the narrow flight of stairs and through the first door on the right, gesturing with his free hand and beaming. "Doesn't he look great? Marluxia's outdone himself this time."

Roxas shook Demyx's hand off his arm and straightened his shirt before he actually looked at what the man had dragged him away from his work to see. His stomach dropped and his heart climbed into his throat, where it promptly proceeded to do its utmost to choke him. Because there was Axel, standing in the middle of the room in fishnets, garters and high heels, wearing a sheer black top with silver sequins flowing from his right shoulder to his left hip, face made up with ridiculously over-the-top eye shadow and thick red lipstick. He stood with one hip thrust out, sighing in exasperation and running his free hand through his hair as Marluxia made some sort of last-minute adjustment to his sleeve. He should've looked ridiculous.

He looked…fucking _amazing_.

Roxas's throat was suddenly dry. He'd been Axel's friend for years, and while he'd been aware that the redhead wasn't all that bad looking, he'd been aware of it the way he was aware the sky was blue or the grass was green. _This_, on the other hand…

"So? What do you think?" Demyx asked, his voice seeming to come from somewhere very far away. As if in slow motion, Axel's face started to swivel toward them and Roxas was suddenly agonizingly aware of the fact that he was standing there ogling his best friend – his _male_ best friend. Who happened to be in drag.

Only through years of practice feigning indifference did he manage to blank his features and give an appropriately apathetic shrug. "Looks good," he muttered.

"Jeez Rox, don't hurt yourself tripping over your enthusiasm," Axel scoffed. Roxas swallowed, hard, and bit his tongue.

"Are you kidding?" Demyx cried, throwing an arm over Roxas's shoulders. "That's high praise coming from him! You hear that, Marly? Roxas loves it."

"I'm thrilled," Marluxia murmured dryly, releasing Axel's wrist and making a slow circle around the redhead. He nodded. "All right, good. I think we're done with this one. You can go ahead and change."

Roxas's spine stiffened and he pulled out from underneath Demyx's arm, backing toward the door. "I've gotta get back – Cid'll kill me if he sees I'm gone." There was no way he was going to stand here and watch the redhead undress – especially considering the suddenly strange mental state he was in.

Demyx frowned at him, but Axel only shrugged. "All right. See you later."

"Yeah," Roxas mumbled, turning and hurrying down the stairs.

"What happened to you?" Hayner asked as Roxas hurried past him on his way back to the stage. Roxas only shook his head and pushed on, heart still hammering in his chest. Yevon, what was _wrong_ with him? He reached the platform he'd been working on and sank down to sit cross-legged in front of it, staring blankly at nothing.

Cid's voice sounded from somewhere off to his right. "I'm not payin' ya to sit and twiddle your thumbs, kid!"

"You're not paying me at all," Roxas replied automatically, blinking and giving himself a stern mental shake. He heard Cid huff.

"Just get back to work."

The rest of the evening passed in something of a blur for Roxas – when Cid told them they were finished for the day he was surprised to find time had somehow skipped ahead several hours. He was still sitting on the edge of the stage when Hayner came up behind him and cuffed him lightly across the back of the head. "You okay, man?" he asked, leaning over and resting his hands on his thighs as he tried to get a look at Roxas's face. "You've been acting weird all night."

"I'm fine," Roxas muttered, scowling.

"Yeah, you look fine," Hayner scoffed.

"What's wrong?" Naminé asked, wiping her palms against her jeans as she walked up to them.

"Nothing," Roxas said. Naminé glanced at Hayner, but he only shrugged and pulled himself upright again. Roxas sighed and pushed himself off of the stage, turning and extending a hand for Naminé. Hayner peeled away from them to find Olette, but Roxas was only dimly aware of Naminé telling him good night. His chest tightened as they approached the doors, eyes darting nervously between the people milling around the exit, searching for Axel's wild red spikes.

"Who are you looking for?"

It took every ounce of willpower Roxas possessed not to jump out of his skin. He turned and glared up at the redhead, nerves momentarily forgotten. Axel just smirked at him as he worked his hands into his gloves. Roxas froze, waiting for his pulse to spike, his throat to dry out, _something_. But it was just Axel, dressed in the same faded jeans and dark sweater Roxas had seen him in countless times before.

No racing pulse.

No nothing.

Roxas released a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding and turned back toward the doors. "No one. Let's go."

Axel hummed in amusement as he followed them out the door. "What's got you in a mood?"

"Your face," Roxas muttered, grinning as he caught sight of the redhead's expression from the corner of his eye. Axel didn't bother dignifying the comment with a response, and Roxas tucked his hands into his pockets with a relieved sigh as they left the theater behind.


	2. Intermission

Intermission

Roxas moaned into Axel's open mouth, falling backward onto the bed and pulling the redhead down on top of him. He tangled his fingers tightly in the other man's hair as he kissed him with a hunger bordering on desperation, one leg wrapping around and rubbing against Axel's fishnet-clad thigh. Axel's lipstick was smeared across both their faces, and his corset was digging into Roxas's chest.

Axel tore his mouth from Roxas's, panting for a moment before he buried his face in the blond's throat, dragging his tongue across the pale expanse of skin as his hands worked their way beneath Roxas's shirt. Roxas groaned and dragged blunt nails over Axel's shoulders and down his back, mumbling an incoherent complaint when they caught against the edge of the corset. He felt Axel laugh against his skin before he sat back, ignoring Roxas's small sound of complaint as he pushed the blond's shirt up and grabbed at the button to his jeans.

Roxas lifted his hips and Axel dragged his pants and underwear off, grunting in annoyance when they caught on one foot. "Leave it," Roxas managed. Axel grinned, the expression almost feral as he leaned in for another kiss, wrapping one hand around Roxas's growing erection. Roxas writhed underneath him, alternately pushing and pulling at the redhead's shoulders, dragging his fingers back up into Axel's hair and pulling hard enough to make the man groan. "Dammit…Axel," he hissed, throwing his head back as the redhead's hand tightened around him.

Axel bit lightly at his jaw before sliding down his body. Roxas tilted his head forward and found himself staring down into Axel's eyes, impossibly large and vibrant against the eyeshadow smeared across his eyelids and the glitter dusting his cheeks. Axel grinned up at him crookedly before he ducked his head and wrapped his lips around the blond's erection, tongue teasing as he took Roxas into his mouth. A gasp tore itself out of Roxas's throat and his hips bucked against Axel's restraining hands. Axel only hummed around him, eyes glinting wickedly as he peered up at Roxas out of the corner of his eye. Roxas closed his eyes, groaning between clenched teeth as he buried his hands in Axel's hair, his toes curling as Axel sucked sharply. "_Fuck_, Axel…"

* * *

Roxas woke with a violent start, heart hammering as he stared at his dark ceiling. His body was sheathed in a layer of cold sweat and there was a sticky mess in his pajama bottoms. He noted these things with an almost clinical detachment; a second later he was scrambling out of the bed, almost tripping in his haste to strip out of his nightclothes as he half-ran for the bathroom. He took a long shower with the water turned as cold as he could stand it, only stepping out when his teeth began to chatter uncontrollably. He toweled his hair dry and grabbed a clean set of pajamas before heading for the living room.

Not bothering to turn on the lights, he threw himself down on the couch, one arm tucked beneath his head as he drummed the fingers of his free hand against his stomach, mind racing. He could be objective about this. He'd had a wet dream about his best friend. His best _male_ friend. Okay. No problem. All he had to do was avoid Axel for the rest of his life – things would be fine.

Roxas's stomach tightened and he turned on his side, hiding his face against the back of the couch. Okay, so that probably wasn't a viable option. He and Axel had had a fight in fourth grade; afterwards Roxas had attempted to stop talking to the redhead. After a day and a half of being stonewalled, Axel had pushed Roxas to the ground after school and sat on him for the remainder of the afternoon, refusing to be moved until Roxas abandoned his no-talking plan. Roxas wouldn't put it past the man to employ the same tactic if Roxas abruptly began to see less of him in the following weeks. He flipped back onto his back, throwing an arm over his eyes with a groan.

Maybe… Maybe it would be enough if he just wasn't around Axel so much during rehearsals. He shifted his arm to his forehead, staring blankly at the ceiling. He only owed Cid one more day – he'd get through it and see if some time and distance couldn't put things in a different perspective. Hell, maybe this would be something he'd eventually be able to look back on and laugh.

A mental image of Axel rose unbidden in his mind, clothed in his costume for the show, painted lips twisted in a knowing smirk. Roxas groaned miserably and grabbed a ratty throw pillow, jamming it down over his face.

Maybe not.

* * *

The strident ring of his cell phone dragged Roxas out of his stupor early the next morning. He woke up feeling disoriented, almost rolling off the couch before he managed to catch his balance. For a moment he just stared at his surroundings, a dull ache in his lower back flaring into something closer to pain when he stretched his cramped muscles. He pulled himself into a sitting position with a groan, rubbing his hands over his face and through his hair as he blinked blearily at his bedroom door. "What…"

Remembrance crashed into him all at once. His spine stiffened as he glanced around the small apartment with an irrational feeling of guilt, pulling his knees defensively against his chest. His phone stopped ringing, and the sudden silence pressed against his eardrums. He glanced at his wrist automatically, frowning when his eyes met only bare skin. Grumbling under his breath, he shoved himself up from the couch and craned his neck to catch a glimpse of the digital clock set into the top of his rarely used oven. He didn't have to be up for another twenty minutes.

"That's just great," he said, startling himself with the sound of his own voice. He sighed and dragged a hand down his face, palm scratching over the rough stubble along his jaw. It wasn't worth trying to fall back asleep. With a yawn, he headed back to the bedroom to get dressed. Fifteen minutes later he was locking the apartment door behind him, scowling as he shoved his phone into his jeans pocket – the call that had woken him had turned out to be a wrong number. The day was _not_ off to an auspicious start. His feet thudded softly against the stairs as he headed for the street. The air was cold and raw against his face, and he huddled a little more deeply into his jacket.

"Roxas!"

Roxas's stomach sank as glanced over to find Naminé and Axel loping up to him, red-cheeked and grinning. "You're up early," Axel noted as Naminé wrapped her arms around Roxas's waist in a brief hug.

"What are you guys doing here?" Roxas asked, wincing a little at how brusque he sounded. A small frown creased Naminé's brow for a moment before she shrugged and stepped back, twisting her fingers around one another.

"We _were_ going to surprise you with breakfast," she said, gesturing at the paper bag Axel had grasped in one hand. "We weren't expecting you to be up already."

"Sorry," Roxas muttered.

Naminé laughed, the sound slightly uncertain. "You don't have to apologize, Roxas." There was a moment of awkward silence as they both looked at him and he looked everywhere but at Axel.

"So," Axel said, clearing his throat and hunching his shoulders as the wind picked up. "Can we come up before we all freeze to death?"

"No!" Roxas snapped, panic flaring as he jumped between the redhead and the door. He immediately flushed and turned his face away, jaw clenched. "I don't have any coffee," he mumbled. "Just – let's go get some coffee to go with the food, okay? My treat."

Axel and Naminé traded confused glances, but they both shrugged and fell into step behind him when he turned and headed for the coffee shop located at the end of the block. "Are you feeling okay, Roxas?" Naminé asked, increasing her stride to match his.

Roxas shrugged and kept his eyes fixed resolutely forward. "I didn't sleep very well last night."

"Oh. Sorry."

"Not your fault," Roxas muttered. They entered the shop and Axel and Naminé broke away from him to grab a table. Roxas stalked up to the counter and ordered the coffee, resettling the cups in the cardboard carrier before he grabbed a couple packets of sugar and creamer, piling them carefully between the cups. Then he resettled the cups in their pockets again.

The guy behind the counter was looking at him strangely. With a sigh, Roxas picked the carrier up and made his way resignedly to his friends. He set the coffee down on the table with a tad too much force, only the cups' lids keeping the warm black liquid from slopping over the rims. Axel arched an eyebrow at the blond's behavior but chose to remain silent, offering Roxas a wrapped breakfast sandwich from the paper bag. Roxas took it with a muttered, "Thanks." They ate in silence, Axel and Naminé darting covert glances at Roxas when they thought he wasn't looking. The food wasn't really warm any more, but nobody complained.

When he was finished, Axel crumpled his sandwich wrapper in his hand and dropped it back into the paper bag, then held the bag out to the other two. They both dropped their garbage into it and Axel shoved it out of the way, settling his elbows on the table and sighing deeply. "Thanks for the coffee, Rox."

Roxas nodded, chancing a quick glance at the redhead out of the corner of his eye. "No problem."

"Well, I have to run," Axel announced, sinking down even farther in his seat.

"Well then you're doing it wrong," Roxas snorted, slipping back into their habitual banter without thinking. His stomach did an unpleasant little flip at the look Axel fixed him with.

"No one asked you." The redhead grinned and pushed himself out of his seat, shrugging back into his coat and grabbing his coffee and the garbage. "I'll see you guys tonight."

"Yeah," Roxas mumbled, ignoring the confusion evident in Naminé's expression when she glanced at him. It was just one more day. He could get through it.

Really.

* * *

Roxas arrived at the theater that evening in a decidedly subdued mood, stomach twisted in painful knots, only to find someone had turned the house lights down in the auditorium. He paused on the threshold, blinking at the sudden murkiness. The cast was gathered on the stage – Axel was crouched at the edge, speaking animatedly to Xemnas. Cid and Xigbar were nowhere to be seen. With a sigh, Roxas shuffled a few steps to the right and knocked against the wall of the booth that housed the light and soundboards. The door opened and Zexion poked his head out, expression pleasantly neutral. "Hello, Roxas."

"Where is everybody?" Roxas asked.

Zexion's expression became one of wry amusement. "Xemnas has taken over the theater – Xigbar and the others are upstairs."

"Um, why?"

Zexion shrugged. "Why does Xemnas ever do anything?"

"_Because_," Demyx chimed in from behind them, "Xigbar's pretty much done with all his projects and we need to rehearse. Hey, Roxas," he added as he stepped up beside the shorter blond. Roxas grunted and eyed the leather jacket Demyx was wearing. Demyx's face creased into a pleased smile. "You like it?" he asked, turning to display the rising sun painted on the back. "Naminé fixed it up for me."

"Looks great, Demyx," Roxas murmured distractedly, his eyes slipping past the blond to where Axel was still crouched at the edge of the stage. His innards squirmed as he watched the redhead's long fingers jab emphatically at the air as he tried to illustrate whatever point he was making to the silver-haired director, his eyes lingering for a long moment on his friend's face before he turned away. "Okay, I better head upstairs. You guys have fun or…whatever."

"We always do," Demyx called after him, voice lilting.

Roxas shoved through the side door and took the stairs two at a time, grateful that he wouldn't have to spend the evening in Axel's proximity. Xigbar glanced up from his work with a grin as Roxas banged through the door. "Well, look who decided to show up."

The evening passed quickly – almost too quickly for Roxas, who found immersing himself in the physical aspects of his work a great distraction from the tumultuous goings-on of the past twenty-four hours. When Xigbar called everyone to a halt for the night, Roxas was the only one internally groaning with disappointment.

Noticing his expression, Hayner punched him lightly in the shoulder. "Quit frowning," he said. "We're done early – that's a _good_ thing, remember?" He sighed when Roxas only muttered under his breath. "Okay, be like that. I'll see you downstairs."

"Yeah," Roxas mumbled, running a hand distractedly through his hair as Hayner disappeared through the door.

"Hey," Xigbar said from behind him. "You're done here, kid – go home." He grinned when Roxas didn't move, clapping him on the shoulder as he moved past him. "Can't stay here all night," he said, flipping the lights off as he left the room. Roxas only sighed and grabbed his jacket, letting Xigbar precede him down the stairs and into the darkened auditorium. Hayner was standing behind the final row of seats, hands clenched around the seat back in front of him as he glared at the stage.

"What –?"

Before Roxas could finish his question, Lexaeus's voice boomed through the speakers. "'Emotion: agitation or disturbance of the mind; vehement or excited mental state.'" Roxas glanced at the stage and found the source of Hayner's apparent distress – Olette and Luxord were standing at stage right in front of where the tank would eventually be set up, and Olette was stroking Luxord's hand with a soft expression. "'It is also a powerful and irrational master,'" Lexaeus's voice continued. "'And from what Magenta and Columbia eagerly viewed on their television monitor, there seemed little doubt that Janet was indeed –'"

Roxas bit his tongue to keep from jumping in with "A slut?" With the way Hayner was glowering, it would be tantamount to asking to be slugged.

"' – its slave.'"

"'Tell us about it, Janet,'" Larxene and Yuffie chorused from across the stage.

"Hey – you okay?" Roxas whispered as he stepped up beside the other man, mentally thanking his lucky stars that Axel wasn't onstage for this scene. Hayner glanced at him out of the corner of his eye before releasing a deep breath.

"Yeah," he muttered as Olette began to sing. "Cocky British bastard," he added under his breath as Olette pressed closer to Luxord.

"'_Now all I want to know is how to go_…'"

Roxas couldn't stifle a grin. "You've got a problem with Luxord? _Seriously_?"

The look Hayner shot him was pure poison. "Shut. _Up_."

"'_I'll put up no resistance, I want to stay the distance. I've got an itch to scratch, I need assistance_…'"

"But…_Luxord_?"

Hayner groaned and leaned forward to prop his elbows on the seat back. "Yevon, would you shut up?" Roxas subsided, shaking his head as he leaned down to prop his elbows on the seat back next to Hayner's. Hayner glanced over at him before turning his face away.

"'_Then if anything grows while you pose I'll oil you up and rub you down_…'"

"'_Down, down, down_,'" Yuffie and Larxene sang.

"'_And that's just one small fraction of the main attraction. You need a friendly hand, oh, and I need action_.'" Olette took Luxord's hands and clasped them to the appropriate part of her anatomy – beside him, Hayner's glower deepened to murderous proportions.

Roxas did a poor job disguising a chuckle over his friend's expression as a cough. "Well, c'mon man, I mean – it's not as bad as that one scene she has with Axel, right?" he offered weakly when Hayner turned and glared at him.

"Maybe," Hayner muttered. "But Luxord worries me a hell of a lot more than Axel."

"Why?" Roxas demanded, exasperated.

"Well, for one thing, because Luxord's _straight_."

Roxas tried not to choke on his own saliva. "_What_?"

Hayner scoffed, pushing himself back upright as Xemnas jumped up as the scene ended. "Come on man, Axel's a fucking closet case. When's the last time you saw him even _look_ at a girl? I know he's your friend and all, but really. If I didn't know better I'd think the two of _you_ were together, the way you guys act sometimes." He paused, flushing slightly at Roxas's expression and scratching self-consciously at his temple. "No offense," he muttered.

Roxas was grateful for the low lighting as the blood rushed to his face and neck. "W-we're _not_ –" he spluttered. "What the _fuck_, Hayner?"

Hayner sighed and held his hands up in a conciliatory gesture. "Shit, sorry, that's not what I meant," he said, looking everywhere but at Roxas. An uncomfortable silence settled between them as the actors bustled around on the stage, finding their marks to begin the scene again. Hayner sighed again, frowning as he cut his eyes to the side and scratched at the back of his head. "I'm sorry, okay? It was a shitty thing to say."

Roxas stared at him for a long minute before he slumped forward, dragging a hand over his face. "Whatever," he muttered, pushing himself upright and stuffing his hands in his pockets. "I'll see you later."

"Yeah," Hayner said, still not looking at him. "See you around."

Roxas turned to leave, but paused on the threshold and glanced back at the stage. Axel was nowhere in sight. He didn't know whether he should feel relieved or disappointed. Mind spinning, he left the theater behind and walked back to his apartment in a daze. When he fell, exhausted, into bed, he didn't dream. And that was probably the only remotely pleasant thing he could say about anything for the next three weeks.


	3. Act II

Act II: Let's Do The Time Warp Again

Roxas slept through his alarm the next morning. When he finally woke up an hour after he was supposed to have been at work, he only rolled over and stared gloomily at the wall, mind still trying to come to terms with all that had transpired in the last day and a half. How could so many things go so completely, utterly wrong in under forty-eight hours?

Axel was his friend. And a guy. Who happened to look really, really good dressed up in makeup and heels. …And whom he was apparently dating.

Roxas groaned and pulled the blanket back up over his head.

Yevon, he was so _fucked_.

* * *

Roxas didn't think it would be exaggerating to say the next few weeks comprised their own special sort of hell. He took great pains to avoid seeing Axel at the theater, so as to deprive himself of any further chance of accidentally catching sight of the man in costume, but after that first wet dream, it seemed something buried deeply inside his mind clicked over and he couldn't find the means to change it back. True, Axel was no more attractive than he'd ever been, but now Roxas _noticed_ it. Constantly. And though he'd always enjoyed the redhead's company, he now found any time spent with Axel tinged with the same sort of irrational guilt he'd experienced on the morning after his first dream involving the redhead. He thought it a great testament to his strength of will that he managed to keep all hints of his emotional turmoil from his friends.

Even if it was driving him insane.

* * *

Roxas sat stiffly, carefully holding his body away from Axel's and pretending to watch the movie playing out on the redhead's television; in reality he was sneaking glances at the redhead out of the corner of his eye every chance he got. He, Naminé, and Axel were all gathered on the couch, Axel in the middle, long arms resting across the back of the couch, his left arm so close to Roxas's head he imagined he could feel the heat from the redhead's skin. Roxas hadn't wanted to come, but hadn't been able to come up with an excuse that wouldn't have made it pathetically obvious that he was trying to avoid the redhead's company.

It had been almost three weeks since his last trip to the theater, and he hadn't been aware of just how often he saw Axel until he started trying to avoid the man. Being absent from the theater during rehearsals only seemed to bring the barest minimum of time not spent in the redhead's company. Axel was there first thing in the morning, dragging Roxas out for breakfast at least three days a week with the excuse that he didn't trust Roxas to eat correctly when he couldn't even remember to do his shopping. In the evenings when Roxas was done with his odd jobs and Axel was done with rehearsal, the redhead invariably had a new movie or video game he wanted Roxas to see, or a scene he was having trouble with and wanted Roxas to help him through. Roxas couldn't go a day without hearing from him in one form or another, and while it had never bothered him before, with Hayner's words still circling restlessly in his head he found it suddenly bothered him a great deal. As did the fact that he suddenly couldn't stop sneaking glances at the man.

And it really didn't help that the dreams didn't seem like they would be stopping any time soon.

Axel's hand tapped the back of his head, and Roxas brought himself back to the present with a start. "What?"

"I _said_ I'm gonna go get a drink, do you want anything?" Axel said, sounding faintly exasperated. Roxas shook his head and Axel pushed himself up with a sigh. "What's with you lately, Blondie?" he asked as he walked around the low divider separating the living room from the kitchen. Roxas only huddled further into himself, frowning. Naminé studied his expression silently for a minute before she scooted across the cushions and laid a tentative hand on his arm.

"Are you all right?" she asked.

Roxas shrugged and managed a thin smile. "Yeah." Naminé looked like she wanted to say something else, but right then Axel walked back into the room with two glasses in his hands. He arched an eyebrow and Naminé scooted back to her original spot, giving Roxas's arm a brief squeeze before she pulled away. Axel handed her one of the glasses and sank back down between the two of them, shifting for a minute until he was comfortable.

"What'd I miss?" he asked. Naminé and Roxas glanced at each other and shrugged simultaneously. "Thanks, you guys are an _enormous_ help," Axel huffed, reaching for the DVD remote. Roxas found himself staring at the man's hands, the way the bones and ligaments shifted and bunched underneath the skin; he knew from experience that Axel's palms were always almost uncomfortably warm, and he found himself thinking how nice it would feel to have the redhead's hand wrapped around his own to fend off the biting cold outdoors –

Roxas brought his thoughts to a screeching halt. Yevon's sake, he sounded like a prepubescent girl. He tore his eyes from Axel's hands, glaring at the television and concentrating on keeping the heat crawling up his neck from reaching his hairline. The next time he saw Hayner, he was going to punch him for ever opening his stupid mouth. Because once he'd made his stupid little observation, it had burrowed its way under Roxas's skin and into his brain, where it had proceeded to fester ever since. He'd tried to tell himself Hayner had just been lashing out – Roxas _had_ been the one to provoke him – but the more he'd thought about it, the more he'd found the other man's assertions held up under scrutiny; he _was_ practically dating his best friend.

Which was a fairly fucked up realization to come to, but which, he'd found, didn't bother him nearly as much as it probably should have.

His eyes drifted back toward Axel, discreetly studying the redhead's profile. He'd spent the last ten years of his twenty-two-year-old life considering himself straight, if remarkably immune to the majority of the charms of the fairer sex, and the fact that Axel was…well, a _guy_ was a pretty big blow to that perception. Hell, it pretty much annihilated it. It seemed like there should be more drama inherent in the discovery that he could be attracted to another man.

Roxas blew his breath out in an aggravated sigh and drew his legs up underneath him, hugging his arms disconsolately across his chest. Sure, the whole Axel being a guy thing had come as something of a rude surprise, but he thought that if the problem had been mere attraction on a physical level, he could've handled the situation a lot better than he was currently doing. Because the part that made the whole thing almost unbearable wasn't the wet dreams, or the fact that he couldn't really bring himself to look straight at the redhead anymore, or even the fact that his once assured opinion of his sexual orientation had been overturned with such little internal fuss – the worst part was that underneath the uncertainty and the school-girl fantasies and the massive amounts of guilt, the absolute _hell_ of it all was…he really did like the guy.

Axel laughed at something on the screen, and Roxas sank down a little further in his seat, closing his eyes and cursing under his breath.

* * *

When the movie was finally over, Roxas all but bolted from Axel's apartment, only waiting long enough for Naminé to grab her jacket and wish the redhead good night. He heaved a deep sigh as they reached the street, his shoulders unknotting for the first time all evening.

Naminé walked beside him silently for a while, though he noticed her occasionally glancing over at him, appearing to be on the verge of saying something before she'd give a little shrug and turn her eyes forward again. The fourth time it happened he turned his head and caught her in the act. "What?"

Naminé held his gaze for a moment before turning her eyes forward. "Nothing." She tilted her head, peering at him from the corner of her eye before she spoke again. "Sora's invited everybody to a Halloween party tomorrow night. Did you hear about that?" Roxas nodded. "Are you going to go?"

"I…don't know."

"Well, think about it, okay?" she said as they paused in front of her building. "You need to get out of your apartment, Roxas. You haven't been to the theater for almost three weeks, now." Her lips quirked into a small smile. "Demyx won't stop asking when you're coming back."

Roxas chuckled in spite of himself. "I'll think about it, Naminé."

"It'll be fun," she said, voice faintly pleading.

"I don't have anything to wear."

Naminé smiled as she stretched up to give him a peck on the cheek. "I'll get Marluxia to help me find something for you."

* * *

When Roxas returned from work the next afternoon, both Naminé and Marluxia were waiting for him in front of his building. Naminé was the first to spot him, slipping one arm out from underneath the garment bag she held clutched to her chest to give him a cheery wave. Marluxia glanced over in his direction and gave him a curt nod, keeping his hands tucked neatly in his suit's pockets.

"Hi guys," Roxas said cautiously as he approached, eyes traveling between the both of them. "What's going on?"

"We brought your costume," Naminé said, smiling serenely as she held the garment bag out to him.

"My…" Brow wrinkling in confusion, Roxas slid his arms around the slippery plastic. "What?"

"For Sora's party," Naminé prompted, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

Roxas sighed. "Naminé…"

"Come on, Roxas. Dress rehearsal's tomorrow and everybody needs to blow off a little steam. It'll be fun, all right? I promise," Naminé pressed, reaching out and laying a hand against his arm.

It was on the tip of his tongue to ask if Axel was going to be there, but Roxas swallowed the question and settled for shifting the garment bag in his arms. "Okay," he muttered. He glanced at Marluxia. "Thanks for the costume, I guess." Marluxia nodded and held out a plain white box he'd held tucked under his arm. "What's that?"

"Your ears," Marluxia said, tilting the box significantly as a small smirk graced his lips.

"My _what_?" Roxas turned and regarded Naminé with a hard stare, but she only smiled.

"Roxas, do you remember the year we did _Cats_?"

* * *

Roxas sat in the corner and sipped his sparkling cider, desperately wishing he'd had the foresight to bring something to spike the beverage with. The other partygoers milled around the room, some of them dancing in time to the music, others chatting amiably with one another. Roxas sighed and scratched at his scalp next to the place Naminé and Marluxia had pinned the soft yellow band attached to the blond, fuzzy cat ears currently poking up from his wind-swept hair. Roxas had flatly refused to wear the body suit, but had relented on the ears and the makeup. And while he had to admit that Marluxia had done an outstanding job, yet again, he constantly had to remind himself that he couldn't scratch his nose, no matter how much it itched.

Add to that the fact that Axel had already been present when they arrived, and Roxas had been more than ready to call it a night as soon as he'd walked in the door.

He glanced up as someone sat down next to him in a flurry of voluminous red skirts. Kairi smiled at him as she adjusted her crown against her silky hair. "Hey there, Roxas." Roxas grunted a greeting and tilted his head back for another sip of cider. "_You_ have been sitting in this corner since you got here," Kairi continued, leaning back in her seat and resting her hands in her lap. She shrugged when Roxas arched an eyebrow at her. "As hostess, it is my job to notice these things," she intoned, smiling widely. "So what's got your fur in a twist? You're the only person here who hasn't tried to sneak off and figure out how many furnished bedrooms we have." Her eyes glinted as Roxas choked a little on his drink. "There are three, if you were wondering."

Still spluttering, Roxas set his drink on the nearby end table, catching himself before he could rub his sleeve against his mouth. "You have a tissue?" he managed between coughs.

Kairi glanced to her right and snatched a tissue from the box hidden behind a framed photo of her, Sora, and Riku standing on a beach somewhere, arms linked as they smiled at the camera. "Here you go."

"Thanks," Roxas muttered, dabbing at his chin and the front of his shirt.

Kairi's expression softened a little as she sighed, reaching up and wrapping a strand of red hair around her finger. "Really, are you all right, Roxas?"

Roxas caught sight of Axel standing across the room, dressed in an elegant black suit and cape, hair pulled back from his face in a severe ponytail and plastic fangs dimpling his lower lip. Roxas scowled and turned his gaze to the carpet at his feet. "Yeah." He gestured at the picture. "Where's that from?"

Kairi gave him a look that made it clear she saw right through his ruse, but she picked up the frame and held it in her hands. "We got this taken last Spring Break at Destiny Islands. Sora's thinking about moving out there after graduation."

"Oh. That's…nice."

Kairi sighed and set the picture back in its spot before standing and turning on him. "Come on," she commanded, grabbing his hands in hers and tugging him to his feet. "We'll get you another sparkling cider."

"I'm fine," Roxas tried to demur.

"And _I_ am the Queen of Hearts," Kairi said, grinning. "And I _command_ you to accompany me to the refreshments." Roxas rolled his eyes but couldn't help smiling as she pulled him behind her toward the heavily laden refreshment table set up against the far wall.

"Hey, _Roxas_!"

Before either of them could react, Demyx had appeared at their side and clapped both hands against Roxas's shoulders, spinning the shorter blond to face him. "You look great!" Demyx said, eyes wide with appreciation as he looked Roxas up and down.

"Thanks, Demyx. You too," Roxas replied, unable to stifle a smile at the older man's rhinestone-studded white pantsuit and black pompadour wig. Demyx beamed and released him, stepping back and striking a pose.

"You think so? Thanks!" Kairi slipped away and then reappeared with two glasses of sparkling cider, winking at Roxas as she pressed his glass into his hand before melting back into the crowd. "So how've you been?" Demyx asked. "We haven't seen you around the theater lately."

"Yeah." Roxas started to scratch his temple, then brought his hand back down to his side, frowning. "How're things going? You guys ready for Halloween night?"

Demyx shrugged and took a sip of his cider. "As ready as we'll ever be. You're gonna come, aren't you?"

"Of course." Roxas sighed, shaking his head. He glanced around the crowded room. "Where's Zexion?"

Demyx went up on tiptoe, turning in a full circle before he thumped back onto his heels, waving his free hand vaguely in the air. "Um…around. Look for a ridiculously big top hat – he came as the Mad Hatter." Roxas smirked but chose to remain silent, tipping back a long drink from his glass.

Naminé materialized at his side, smiling as she threaded her arm through his and gave him a brief squeeze. "Hey, guys."

Demyx reached over and flicked a finger against her thin wire halo, grinning. "Hey, yourself. Cute costume, Nami."

"Thank you, Demyx. Where's Zexion?"

Demyx shrugged and took a short sip from his drink. "Around."

"He's probably hiding in a corner somewhere, reading," Roxas said.

Demyx sighed and nodded. "Probably."

"Has anyone seen Hayner or Olette? They were supposed to come tonight," Naminé said, releasing Roxas's arm. Roxas shrugged as Demyx shook his head.

"They could be running late," Demyx pointed out.

"I guess…"

Before anyone else could get a word in edgewise, a familiar saxophone riff started playing over the stereo system. There was a high pitched "_Eddie_!" and Demyx was suddenly stumbling under the weight of Yuffie – who was grinning manically and, Yevon help him, dressed as a ninja – and barely managing to keep his glass of cider from crashing to the floor.

"Yuffie, what…" Demyx trailed off, laughing as he wrapped his free arm around the petite woman's waist to steady the both of them.

"I put in a request," Yuffie said brightly.

"_Whatever happened to Saturday night when you're at the job and you felt all right? It don't seem the same since cosmic light came into my life, I thought I was divi-ine…_"

Demyx thrust his glass at Roxas, grinning, before disentangling Yuffie's arms from around his neck and lifting her by the waist, swinging her in a wide circle as the song continued.

"_I used to go for a ride with a chick who'd go, and listen to the music on the radio. A saxophone was blowing on a rock and roll show; we climbed in the backseat, really had a good ti-ime…_"

Roxas set both glasses back on the refreshment table and tugged Naminé over to stand next to him, grinning as he watched Demyx and Yuffie spin wildly in time to the music. "_Hot patootie, bless my soul, sex, drugs, and marshmallows_!" Demyx belted out before dissolving into laughter.

Naminé threaded her fingers through his, smiling when he glanced at her. "I'm glad you came, Roxas."

"Yeah," Roxas admitted, grinning ruefully. "Me, too."

As "Hot Patootie" wound to a close, Demyx and Yuffie drew apart, panting and grinning as they turned to face the rest of the room and take a deep bow. Demyx gallantly offered Yuffie his arm as "Monster Mash" started up and, laughing, they spun farther out into the room.

Roxas glanced at Naminé with a grin. "Wanna dance?" Not waiting for her to answer, he looped his arms loosely around her waist and spun her away from the table.

"Roxas, no –" Naminé tried to protest, laughing. Roxas ignored her, smiling and swaying in time to the music.

Naminé sighed and placed her hands on his shoulders. "Are you coming to the dress rehearsal tomorrow?"

Roxas shrugged. "I dunno."

"You should come, Roxas."

"Mind if I cut in?"

Roxas's stomach sank as he glanced up to find Axel standing next to them – he'd actually managed to forget about him for the last few minutes. His hands slid away from Naminé's waist and he stepped back, turning to go and grab another glass of cider, but a hand manacled his right wrist and turned him back. Roxas stumbled a little and almost fell into Axel, who placed one hand at Roxas's waist and steered him toward the center of the floor. "Nice ears," he said flatly.

Roxas was suddenly ridiculously grateful that he'd let Marluxia and Naminé talk him into the thick face paint – his _ears_ were burning. "What the hell are you doing?" he hissed, tugging against the redhead's grip. Axel slid his hand from Roxas's wrist up to seize his hand, wrapping his fingers tightly around Roxas's.

"Making sure you can't run away from me," he said, pulling the blond into a spin.

Roxas clutched instinctively at Axel's arm to help him keep his balance. "_What_?"

"What the hell is your problem lately?" Axel demanded, grimacing when his fangs started to slip. He removed his hand from Roxas's waist to pull them out; Roxas took the opportunity to try and pull away from him, but Axel only grunted in annoyance and tugged him back. "You've been avoiding me all night."

Roxas scowled and held himself stiffly, trying to keep as much open space between himself and the redhead as he possibly could, glowering at the collar of Axel's dress shirt. "You're imagining things."

"_Really_?" Axel dipped him abruptly, frowning down at him when Roxas's eyes flashed up in surprise. "You haven't looked straight at me in _weeks_."

Roxas's throat constricted as he stared up at the redhead. The color was high in Axel's cheeks and his eyes were burning; he'd had his hair trimmed for the show and the shorter spikes were working their way free of the ponytail, falling around his face and neck, and he was just _too close_ –

Roxas closed his eyes, planted his free hand against Axel's chest, and shoved him off of him with all his strength – which, considering his current position, wasn't much, but if he didn't shove him he was going to kiss him, and if he kissed him…well, there was just no way in hell he was going to kiss him. Axel stumbled back a step, pulling Roxas back upright, and Roxas took advantage of the redhead's surprise to twist out of his hold, turning and shoving his way through the crowd toward the door. Axel didn't try to stop him, and Roxas snatched his coat from the closet and left, slamming the door behind him.

He paused on the sidewalk, watching his breath steam in the air before he turned and trudged toward the nearest tram stop. He sank down on the bench, shoulders hunched, glaring at the pavement.

That…could have gone better.

He heard a small step behind him and twisted to glance over his shoulder. Naminé was approaching the bench cautiously, a small groove marring her forehead. "Roxas?" Her wings didn't fit underneath her coat, so she was wearing it backwards with the sleeves pushed up to her biceps. She clutched her purse in one hand. Roxas sighed and slid over to give her enough room to sit. She did, staring at the house across the street. "What happened?" she asked. Roxas shrugged, grumbling under his breath when he tried to run one hand through his hair and encountered the cat ears still pinned to his head. "Roxas…"

"I think I like him, Naminé," Roxas blurted miserably. "Axel. Like…_like_ him, like him."

Naminé sighed and nodded. "So that's it." She shrugged when Roxas glanced at her. "You've been acting really strangely the last couple weeks," she said, tucking a wind-teased strand of hair back behind her ear.

Roxas scowled and hunched in on himself a little more. "You could act a little more surprised," he grumbled.

Naminé glanced at him with a small smile. "Sorry." She tilted her head to the side, considering. "You guys have been really close for a long time. I sort of thought…" She gave him an apologetic shrug as he frowned at her. "I thought you guys just wanted to keep it a sort of don't ask, don't tell thing."

Roxas glared gloomily at the ground. "So now what?"

"Tell him." Roxas scoffed, but Naminé slipped her fingers under his chin and tilted his head so he was looking at her. "You need to tell him, Roxas. He deserves to know why you've been acting so coldly toward him lately."

"I wasn't –"

"You _were_," she said, gently overriding him. A smile ghosted across her lips. "Tell him, Roxas."

Roxas cut his eyes to the side. "Fine," he muttered. "But not tonight."

"No," Naminé agreed, pulling her hand back. "Not tonight. But soon, Roxas, promise me."

Roxas groaned. "That's not fair."

Naminé kissed his temple. "Thank you," she said, taking his hand in hers and giving it a brief squeeze. Roxas returned the slight pressure, and they sat there like that for a moment; then Naminé's cell phone began to ring. Disentangling her hand from Roxas's, she extracted her phone from her purse and flipped it open. "Hello?" She frowned. "Is she all right? Yes, I'll let them know. Yes. All right, make sure you guys get home safely. Mm-hmm. Bye."

"What?" Roxas asked as she flipped the phone closed and dropped it back in her bag.

Naminé glanced at him, expression troubled. "That was Hayner. Olette missed a step on the stairs and twisted her ankle as they were leaving to come to the party. Apparently she twisted it pretty badly."

"Shit."

"Yeah," Naminé sighed, standing. "I have to go let everybody know." She paused before she turned away, staring down at him. "Come to the dress rehearsal tomorrow, Roxas. Please." Roxas sighed and nodded, and she bent to give him a one-armed hug before turning and hurrying back toward the party.

As Roxas watched her go, it suddenly occurred to him that she was Olette's understudy. She would be Janet if Olette couldn't go on. His mind flashed to the scene Olette and Luxord had been rehearsing all those weeks ago. Then he groaned and dropped his head into his hands, not caring if he ruined the makeup. Hayner was right. Luxord _was_ something of a cocky British bastard.

* * *

Roxas showed up late to the dress rehearsal, sneaking into the auditorium under the cover of darkness and choosing a seat in the very back row. They were right in the middle of "Dammit Janet," Sora and Naminé sashaying across the stage and staring dreamily into one another's eyes. Roxas sighed, propped his feet on the seat back in front of him, and settled down to wait.

An hour and fifty minutes later, he slipped out of his seat and through the side door as Larxene sang the final refrains of the reprise of "Science Fiction/Double Feature," stationing himself beside the short flight of stairs that led to the stage and trying to ignore the fluttering sensation in his stomach. Dimly, he could hear Xemnas speaking to the cast as the house lights came up again. He tilted his head back, resting it against the wall and biting the inside of his lower lip. "Come on…"

Naminé was the first one off the stage, still dressed in her costume from the floor show – when she saw Roxas her eyes lit up and she hurried over to give him a hug, somehow managing not to trip and fall flat on her face in the six-inch heels she was currently wearing. "Thanks for coming, Roxas."

"Yeah," Roxas muttered, clearing his throat as he stepped back from her embrace.

"What did you think?" she asked, clasping her hands in front of her and regarding him with a hopeful smile.

"You guys were great," Roxas said, managing a grin despite his nerves. "You're gonna blow 'em away tomorrow night."

Naminé's eyes shone as she wrapped him in another hug, laughing. "Thank you, Roxas." Roxas wrapped his arms around her, grinning as he patted her on the back. Her expression was a little more sober when she pulled back. "Have you seen Axel yet?"

Roxas shook his head, stiffening when he caught sight of the man in question over Naminé's shoulder. Axel was still in costume – corset, high heels, garters and all – and was running a hand distractedly through his hair, which he'd dyed a temporary black for the performance. Axel scowled when he noticed Roxas staring at him and attempted to brush past the both of them. "Excuse me," he muttered.

Naminé reached out and grabbed his wrist, drawing him to a halt. "Axel, wait." Axel glanced down at her, expression irritated, but Naminé only grabbed Roxas's arm with her other hand and tugged him a little bit closer. "Roxas needs to talk to you."

"Naminé," Roxas hissed.

"You promised," she whispered, turning and shoving them both lightly toward the alcove underneath the stairs leading to the second floor.

Axel and Roxas glanced at each other before Axel shrugged and started stalking toward the alcove. "Whatever," he muttered. Roxas sent a pleading glance over his shoulder at Naminé, but she only gave him another gentle shove.

"Talk to him," she insisted quietly. Seeing no other alternative, Roxas turned and dragged his feet toward the alcove, where Axel was waiting with barely concealed impatience.

"What?" he asked as Roxas walked up to him. Roxas squirmed a little internally, glancing over his shoulder to make sure they were for the most part invisible to the other cast members.

"I'm sorry," he mumbled, hunching his shoulders and stuffing his hands in his pockets. "For…how I've been acting and everything. I just –"

"Just what?" Axel demanded, crossing his arms across his chest.

Roxas sighed and glanced longingly over his shoulder again. Yevon, he felt like such a fucking _girl_. He turned back to face the redhead and found, to his horror, that Axel was staring straight at him, eyes gleaming in the low light and painted lips pulled down in a frown and… Roxas swallowed, hard. The man had no _right_ to look that good in makeup.

Axel sighed and started to sweep past him. "Fine."

"I like you," he said in a rush, squeezing his eyes shut and making a grab for the redhead's arm. "Shit, I like you, Axel, I think I'm halfway to being in love with you and it's making me fucking _nuts_ because I don't want to, but I don't know…what to do about it – how to make it…go away," he finished lamely. He opened his eyes and glared up at the redhead when he didn't respond. "Well _say something_, dammit," he growled.

Axel was regarding him with an expression he'd never seen on the other man's face before. "I – what?"

"You heard me," Roxas muttered, releasing his grip on Axel's arm to cross his own arms over his chest, hunching his shoulders defensively.

Axel gave an uncertain laugh. "Come on, Rox, be serious."

"I _am_," Roxas growled, glowering up at the redhead. "I fucking _like_ you, you asshole."

"But…not –"

Roxas groaned in frustration and reached up to grab Axel's face between his hands, jerking the taller man down into a clumsy kiss, the thick goop on Axel's lips smearing across his own. He pushed him back just as abruptly. "Forget it," he muttered, trying to shove past the man.

It was Axel's turn to grab Roxas's arm, spinning the blond back around and slamming the both of them against the wall. "But…seriously?" he asked, searching Roxas's face intently.

"I'm not saying it again, moron," Roxas growled, struggling against Axel's hold. He froze, eyes wide, when Axel closed the space between them and pressed his lips to the blond's.

Roxas blinked.

Well…that was unexpected.

Axel pulled back, a wide smile on his face. "Yevon, why didn't you just _say_ something?" he asked, laughing a little at Roxas's expression.

"You – I… _What_?"

Axel's expression sobered as he stared at Roxas, lifting his eyebrows at him as he waited for the blond to work things through on his own. Roxas ducked his head and raised a hand to his lips, brushing lightly over the lipstick smeared across them before he lifted his head to look back up at the other man with slowly dawning comprehension.

"…You're an asshole," he muttered, grinning a little as he punched Axel lightly in the chest.

"Better than a passive-aggressive little emo bitch," Axel snorted, smirking.

"Why didn't _you_ say something?" Roxas demanded, shoving his shoulder.

Axel shrugged, glancing away. "You never seemed…well, you never showed any interest, and I didn't want to –" He paused, glancing back down at the blond with a speculative gleam in his eye. "What finally made you…?" Roxas flushed and glanced away, and Axel's eyes widened before a leer spread across his face. "Why Roxas, how very kinky of you," he snickered.

Roxas groaned and punched him. "Shut up, you fucking beanpole," he muttered.

"Yeah, yeah, come up here and say tha – mmph."

Axel's amused grunt disappeared into Roxas's open mouth as the blond dragged him down for another kiss, reaching up and twining his fingers through the other man's dyed hair. Axel made a small, contented sound and wrapped his arms around Roxas, pulling him closer and adjusting the angle at which their mouths met.

"Hey, has anybody seen Ax –"

They sprang apart as Demyx quite literally stumbled into them, almost tripping over Axel's foot. The blond teacher's arms wind milled comically for a moment before he managed to regain his balance; when he glanced up his jaw dropped open as he took in their flushed appearances and the makeup smeared across both of their faces. He blinked, throat hitching for a second before his face broke into luminous smile and he clapped his hands together briskly. "Well," he sighed, "it is about damn time." With that, he turned and walked back toward the stage, grinning broadly.

Axel and Roxas glanced at each before they burst out laughing, leaning back to rest against the wall. "So, you're coming to the show tomorrow, right?" Axel asked.

Roxas sighed, nerves still humming with adrenaline as he leaned his head against the wall and regarded the redhead with a grin. "Yeah."

Axel leaned in to drop one last light kiss on Roxas's lips, eyes half-lidded as he smiled at the blond. "Hey, Rox? Do me a favor – don't come dressed like a virgin."

* * *

Roxas sighed and huddled a little further into his jacket, hunching his shoulders so he could bury his nose in the collar. Axel had told him not to dress like a Rocky Horror virgin, but it was just too damn cold. Besides, in weather like this, he was sure he wouldn't be the only one. He rounded the corner adjacent to the theater, eyes flicking automatically to the sidewalk in front of the ticket office.

He stopped.

Stared.

A veritable sea of black corsets and stockings met his eyes, the members of the prospective audience milling around in constant motion in an effort to stave off frostbite. Roxas quailed a little inside as he approached, wondering if maybe he shouldn't have made some sort of effort to locate an old suit – he could've claimed to be a Transylvanian, at the very least.

"Roxas!"

Roxas's eyes widened as he caught sight of Olette, dressed in a violet dress and wide-brimmed hat, supporting herself on crutches and waving. Hayner was standing next to her, wearing a suit and bow tie and glasses that rivaled the pair Sora wore in the show. "What are you guys doing here?" Roxas asked as he moved to join them.

Olette smiled, reaching up to adjust her hat before lowering her hand to the crutches once again. "Are you kidding? A little sprained ankle wouldn't make me miss this."

"How are you doing?" Roxas asked, giving her a brief hug.

Olette shrugged. "All right."

"Haven't seen you around lately," Hayner observed, extending a fist. Roxas tapped his knuckles against the other blond's, shrugging.

"Yeah. Sorry about that."

Hayner grunted and rubbed a hand against the back of his head, cutting his glance to the side. "That stuff I said before –"

"It's fine," Roxas cut in, grinning and lightly punching Hayner's shoulder when the other man looked at him again.

Hayner's expression relaxed into a smile. "Okay. Great." His brows settled low over his eyes as he looked Roxas up and down. "Why the hell are you dressed like a virgin?"

* * *

Roxas sighed as the lights dimmed, sinking back in his seat and crossing his hands over his stomach. Xemnas had already introduced the play, making the usual plea for support and thanking the patrons whose support had helped to fund tonight's show. The conversation and laughter died away expectantly as Larxene walked out onto the stage in a bra and slip, no sign of the red fright wig she'd be wearing later in the show anywhere to be seen. She lifted a large halogen flashlight and flipped it on, turning it on the audience as the introduction to "Science Fiction/Double Feature" began to play over the speakers.

"Get that fucking light out of my eyes!" someone from the back called.

"_Michael Rennie was ill the day the Earth stood still, but he told us where we stand_…"

"**On our feet**!" the audience cried. Roxas only shook his head and sank down a little farther in his seat, grinning.

By the time they got around to "Dammit Janet," Roxas was glad he'd seen the damn movie so many times – he could hardly hear what was going on onstage over the audience participation.

"Hey Janet?" Sora said, looking appropriately bashful.

"Yes, Brad?"

"I've got something to say."

"**Then say it, asshole**!"

"I really love the…"

"**Look at her tits and get inspired**!"

"Skillful way…you beat the other girls…"

"**With whips and chains**!"

"To the bride's bouquet."

"**Eat your flowers, Janet**!"

Naminé blushed and buried her face in the fake flowers right on cue. Once the song was finished, she and Sora exited the stage and the criminologist's office swung into view, Lexaeus seated behind an impressively massive desk that Roxas knew for a fact weighed no more than ten pounds. "I would like…" he began.

"**A neck**!" the audience screamed, apparently completely undeterred by the fact that the man actually _had_ one.

"If I may…"

"**You may not**."

"To take you…"

"**Where**?"

"On a strange journey."

"**How strange? So strange they made a play out of it**…"

By the time the Time Warp sequence rolled around, Roxas thought there was a good chance he would end the night temporarily deaf. The cast flowed off the stage and into the aisles for the number, pulling the few reluctant audience members to their feet and demonstrating the steps for them in time to Lexaeus's dry instructions.

Naminé elbowed Sora as the song ended. "Say something," she stage whispered.

"Hey!" Sora called, smiling. "Any of you guys know how to Madison?"

"**Asshole**!"

Roxas straightened in his seat, recognizing the lead-in to Axel's appearance. The audience began to clap in time to the music that underscored the action onstage.

"Brad, please, let's get out of here," Naminé said, smiling nervously as they backed away from the rest of the people assembled on the stage.

"**Brad, tell Janet how to get off**!"

"For God's sake, keep a grip on yourself, Janet."

"B-but it seems so unhealthy here," Naminé insisted. The audience began to chant and stomp their feet in time with their clapping as Axel began to ascend to the stage, back turned.

"It's just a party, Janet," Sora insisted.

"Well, I want to go!"

Roxas couldn't really hear anything after that until Axel turned to face the audience, face made up with outrageous makeup and body hidden by a voluminous black cloak. Naminé shrieked and fainted into Sora's arms, and Axel smirked before breaking into song.

"_How do you do, I see you've met my faithful_ –"

"**Hand-job man**." Roxas wasn't sure, but he thought he saw Vexen's lip curl at that line.

"_He's just a little brought down because, when you knocked, he thought you were the Candy Man_." Axel brushed past them, still holding the cloak wrapped tightly around him. "_Don't get strung out by the way I look, don't judge a book by its cover_." He turned to face the audience. "_I'm not much of a man_ –"

"**That's for damn sure**."

"– _by the light of day, but night I'm one hell of a lover_." He flung the cloak away, revealing the corset and stockings underneath it. Several audience members leapt to their feet, bowing frantically at the waist.

"**We're not worthy! We're not worthy!**"

Roxas just closed his eyes and waited for it to be over.

* * *

Two hours later, Roxas's ears were still ringing, and he was pretty sure the mental image of Sora dancing across the stage in six-inch heels, stockings, and a corset would require years of therapy to overcome. The last refrains of "Science Fiction/Double Feature" were finally winding to a close, and the house lights brightened a little as the music for "Time Warp" began to play. The curtain rose as the cast stepped out to take their bows, beaming. Roxas rose to his feet as Sora and Naminé stepped out, but the audience _erupted_ when Axel appeared. Grinning widely, the redhead took a deep bow, then motioned the rest of the cast to join him; joining hands, they all took a bow as one before stepping back, letting the curtain fall back into place.

Roxas slipped out of his seat as the audience continued to cheer, ignoring the velvet rope Xigbar and Cid had used to mark off the side door and stepping into the narrow hallway. The cast and crew were crowded together, chattering and laughing as they tried to congratulate everybody at once. Naminé caught sight of him and broke away from the crowd, smiling widely as she walked toward him.

"You were great," Roxas told her, drawing her into a tight hug and kissing her cheek.

"It was so _loud_," Naminé laughed, sounding slightly out of breath.

"Just a little," Roxas said with a wry grin.

"Are you coming to the cast party?" Naminé asked as she drew back.

Roxas's eyes connected with Axel's – the redhead was still swamped by the rest of the cast and crew – and he smiled. "Maybe later."

Naminé shook her head and gave his hair an affectionate tug as Axel managed to break free of the people mobbing him on all sides. "Hey, Blondie," he said, striding up and slipping an arm around Roxas's shoulders. "What'd ya think?"

Roxas only pulled him down for a kiss, peripherally aware of Naminé bidding them good night as he hooked a finger through Axel's garter belt. Axel drew back, eyebrow arched, and Roxas grinned. "I think we should invest in a few of these ourselves."

"Why, you little perv," Axel chuckled, smirking. Roxas only rolled his eyes and pulled the redhead down for another kiss.


End file.
